Kate Marvel

Kate Marvel, Ph.D., is a senior climate scientist at Project Drawdown, the world’s leading resource for climate solutions. Before joining Project Drawdown, Kate spent seven years as a research scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University and held positions at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Stanford University. Prior to Columbia University, Kate worked at Stanford University, the Carnegie Institution, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

A former cosmologist, Kate received a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Cambridge University, where she was a Gates Scholar. She serves on the chapter leadership team of the U.S. Fifth National Climate Assessment, has given a TED talk, appeared on Meet the Press and The Ezra Klein Show, and testified before the U.S. Congress. She has written for Scientific American, Nautilus Magazine, and the On Being Project. Kate’s book Human Nature will be published by Ecco Press in 2023.

Kate’s research centers on climate modeling to better predict how much the Earth’s temperature will rise in the future. Her work has identified human influences on present-day cloud cover, rainfall patterns, and drought risk. She is also interested in future climate changes, particularly climate feedback processes and the planet’s sensitivity to increased carbon dioxide.